Qatar is a small, oil-rich nation in the Middle East located on the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Bahrain to the east and United Arab Emirates to the west. Qatar has a population of 2.6 million people, and its capital city is Doha. The official language is Arabic, and Islam is the predominant religion. Qatar has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world due to its vast oil reserves and natural gas production. The country’s economy is largely based on petroleum and natural gas exports, which account for more than 70% of government revenues. Qatar also has a rapidly growing tourism sector as well as investments in education, healthcare, and infrastructure projects. See countries that begin with Q.
Qatar has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, propelled by its vast energy resources. The economy is mainly focused on oil and gas production and exports, which account for more than 70% of government revenue, 65% of GDP, and 85% of export earnings. Qatar is the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with an estimated 30.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven natural gas reserves. Qatar also has significant reserves of crude oil, with approximately 24 billion barrels in proven reserves.
The non-oil sector is led by construction and manufacturing, although services such as finance, transport, communications, real estate and tourism are also important components. Qatar has invested heavily in infrastructure projects to diversify its economy away from oil and gas production and to develop new sectors such as tourism. This investment has created hundreds of thousands of jobs for foreign workers who make up a majority of the country’s population.
Other economic reforms have included a free trade zone established in 2003 which allows foreign companies to operate within Qatar without paying taxes or customs duties; tax exemptions for foreign investors; a floating exchange rate; privatization; deregulation; and liberalization measures to attract foreign investment.
Yearbook 2004
Qatar. The total population in Qatar is 2,881,064 people in 2020. Chechnya’s former leader Zelimchan Jandarbijev was killed on February 13 by a car bomb in Qatar’s capital Doha. Jandarbijev, who had lived in Qatar since 2000, was considered by Russia as the crucial link between international terrorist groups and Chechen rebels. Russia denied all involvement in the attack, but two weeks after the act, Qatari police arrested two Russian security agents who were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder on June 30. The two were extradited to Russia in December to serve their sentences there. A third Russian who was also convicted of involvement in the murder had diplomatic status and had been deported to Russia before the trial. See baglib.com for Qatar sights, UNESCO, climate, and geography.
Qatar’s former leader, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad, returned to the country in October for the first time since his son, the emir Hamad bin Khalifa, deposed him in a palace coup in 1995. Sheikh Khalifa, who has lived in Europe, came to attend his wife’s funeral. Emir Hamad has visited his father in Europe several times.